Rather disappointing that Panasonic did not disclose the price of the GH4 or the YAGH interface unit in fact my worry is that the YAGH unit will only take a 4pin DC power cable as there seems to be no where to slot an external battery into.

This has been confirmed it does indeed need a 12v “V” lock battery if using the YAGH not very convenient in my opinion. No pricing but some are speculating a price of around £650 for the YAGH and £1250 for the camera.

The boys over at EOS HD put it in a nutshell…”Think about what would connect to this unit… A very high spec 4K recorder / monitor like the Odyssey 7Q, a V-lock battery and some chunky pro audio equipment via XLR. Is there any point shrinking this add-on down to the size of a consumer DSLR battery grip when you have all this hanging off it ?”

The other very disappointing news is the 8bit 4:2:0 internal processing though you can get 4:2:2 10bit via the SDI socket but onv=ce again a compromise and something else to hang off the camera if you want the extra quality.

Note on Availability: Panasonic announced this camera on February 6, 2014, and we will begin accepting pre-orders on March 17, 2014.

Here is a short video produced in 4K make sure you watch it in full screen mode.

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2 comments on this post

Yes, well done Panasonic, but I’m not quite ready to flog my C100 and EX1s for a GH4 with the Weeble-based breakout box quite yet.

If I’m parsing the reviews correctly, 4K recording is a 1:1 pixel mapping thing, so your 2x MFT crop goes up to 2.2 or thereabouts, so wides need to be really wide.

The holes in the weeble box look like they have threads in them, and they’re way too close, too small and too low for a 15mm rod system, yet I’m guessing that there will be a few tears before bedtime at Zacuto and the rest, as they work out how to shoulder mount this odd puppy.

The AF is still contrast based, so AF may hunt in video mode.

4 pin XLR power! A small dinky camera with a weeble bottom PLUS a V-Lock? Did they hire the Black Magic R&D team? And then add a separate recorder?

Still trying to pin down the internal recording details – it’s looking like everything is 8 bit. Which is what I was expecting TBH, 4:2:2 10 bit internal recording would be a game changer. This is a nice development for fans of the GH system, but I’ll pass for now. 🙂

Totally agree Matt Davis.
I love my GH2 for home video but was wishing Panasonic would develop something more serious for paid work.
IMHO, the GH3 failed with a poor viewfinder and no peaking. For the life of me, I just can not pick focus on moving subjects with the GH3. And now the GH4…..sigh.

Now Canon don’t look so silly 2 years on, asking over $10K for a large sensor internal broadcast codec camera.
No one has yet stepped up to seriously challenge the C300.